Health Care Inspectorate patientsafety and quality in hospitals

Health Care Inspectorate Part of the Ministry of Health but independent Inspector-General as CEO, directly reporting to the Minister of Health In total almost 550 fte: Inspectors Supporting personal Staff

Context – facts & figures 92 hospitals (8 academic) 50% physicians employed by hospital All citizens insured for healthcare coverage GP refers patient to hospital broad coverage of essential care patient experience and satisfaction high

1.Health care providers are responsible for quality and safety of care: Governance: Board of trustees: internal supervisors Executives: responsible for Q and S by law Professionals: prof outcome Professional quality system Hospital quality system Governance

2. Regulation by market mechanisms: patient: informed choices insurance companies: contracting on price/quality 3. Health care inspectorate independent role in setting and enforcing (minimum) standards for Q and S Governance

6 average quality Minimum norms scientific medical societies irresponsible careOptimal results  best practices Quality and safety in health care

7 average quality Minimum norms scientific medical societies irresponsible careOptimal results  best practices Quality and safety in health care Role Inspectorate Role professionals Health care providers

Context – Healthcare Inspectorate Oversees that care is delivered responsibly Focuses on high risk organizations / themes Assesses sentinel events (hospitals are required by law to report) Can close a ward or a hospital or stop a professional Publishes all reports on internet

Drivers for Q&S Government: Market driven incentives Transparancy Payment system (performance) New Quality Institute Responsibility Q/PS for board and supervisory board of healthcare institutions Health care Insurers: Contracting: volume, quality, price Health Care Inspectorate: Proactive + public reporting + sanctioning Agendasetting: high risk patients, high risk areas 9

Drivers for Q&S Professionals Intrinsic professional motivation Professional system of mutual audits provides standards & insights Market driven incentives (patients, referrals) Payment system (health care insurers) Hospitals Law on Quality of care: Q&S system and active reporting Formal accreditation system Systematic annual review from inspectorate Several specific reviews Public reporting on HSMR etc. Public websites by patient-organisations Payment system (health care insurers) 10

Administrative burden of indicator measurement is high Strong emphasis on measurable indicators, hardly on ‘condition humaine’ By linking quality to reimbursement, quality becomes part of P&L instead of intrinsic value 11 Disincentives for Q&S in Hospitals

Ambition level is (too) high, zero fault option deters Reputation maybe more important than patient care Government/public opinion hype-driven by incidents Public distrust in institutions leads to overcompensation in urge for transparency Position of professionals in hospitals: clinical leadership 12 Disincentives for Q&S in Hospitals

Trust versus distrust Incidents versus systemic approach Minimal standards versus excellence 13 Three dilemmas in improving care

Inspectorate as judge versus advisor Hospitals being judged versus being helped topics on transparancy, blame free reporting Possible way out: separation between judging issues and enforcement measures and improvement 14 Trust/Distrust

Sentinel Event reports: Hospitals are mandated to report Hospitals do their own analysis Inspectorate judges quality of analysis based on WHO criteria Goal: hospitals learn from mistakes Effect on hospitals: higher reporting-rate increasing effort on RCA’s and improvement increasing administrative burden tendency to ‘standardize’ reports

Public opinion and polital pressure emphazises incident reporting and judging Most incidents have systemic root causes incident management may lead to opportunistic improvements and inefficient use of resources 16 Incidents/Systematic approach

National Patient Safety campaign: prevent damage, work safely Goal: 50% ↓ preventable mortality Two pilars: Safety Management System 10 themes Succesful way-out, need for next steps

Last ten years: emphasis on developing and implementing standards Large set of indicators for good care Great impact on improving care itself Increased transparancy 18 Minimal standards/Excellence

Topics on limiting the number of indicators, overemphasizing measurable indicators versus soft- factors Meeting the standard becomes more important than improving care itself 19 Minimal standards/Excellence

Quality indicators in the Netherlands Indicators are selected in collaboration between: Healthcare Inspectorate (“owner”) Order of Medical Specialists Federation of University Medical Centers Dutch Hospital Federation National Nursing Association

Quality indicators for hospital care Annual reporting to Healthcare Inspectorate 12 themes of indicators 62 indicators Outcomes are openly accessible

Example of quality indicators Surgical care % pts with painscore > 7 in first 72h post-op % re-operations after hipfracture % correctly performed time-out % on-time pre-operative antibiotic administration Volume bariatric surgeries % pts included in national cataract registry

Possible way out: clear distinction between focus on minimal standards or stimulating high performing organizations 23 Minimal standards/Excellence